如何有效提高英语写作

　　对于英文写作提升，我们要解决的有两个主要问题：阅读和模仿。

　　先说阅读。

　　一个现实情况是，有不少人虽然学了好几年英语，但学习过的资料大部分是为了应付考试，比如四六级的词汇书、作文书，或者各种习题资料，终归没脱离开考试的范围，除此之外读过的原版书几乎一个手指头都能数得过来了。如果没有足够的素材储备，他们写出来的作文可能会是这样的：

　　Nowadays,with the rapid development of society, purpose of education being changed.There are some people who think that competition in children should be made .Others believe that children who are taught to cooperate as well as become more useful adults.There are advantages and disadvantages for both of the arguments.

　　To begin with, what is good if a sense of competition in children is made? They can develop themselves more and more as they learn and study a lot to win from the competition.To prove this, in my country it is popular and common to have a tutor who come to students' house to teach extra pieces of study with paying a lot of money. ...

　　上面的这两段是我从一篇学生习作中选的，其文风和错误应该都非常典型：生硬套用作文模板，中式英语，语法错误，内容空泛...造成这种问题的一个主要原因就是读英语读得太少了，脑子里几乎没有什么地道的英文储备，写出来的东西也不会高明到那里去。

　　因此，提高英文写作水平的第一步是：大量阅读，阅读是一个量变引发质变的过程，在你读到一定量的时候，可能会在某一瞬间突然发现虚拟语气原来是这种感觉，动词搭配原来是这么回事...当你提笔写作的时候，你会在脑海里重现类似的例句。新手可以从泛读开始，选择一些生词较少，内容简短且情节精彩的小说，慢慢培养阅读的习惯，有条件的可以去买个kindle, 阅读体验会更好。大量的阅读会带来词汇量的提升，通过阅读积累的词汇理解最为深刻，记忆效果也最好，最容易转化为积极词汇从而应用到写作中去。

　　在泛读的同时还要注意一点：强化语法。语法有多重要?举个例子，现在分词过去分词及各种从句的灵活运用，主动被动的.转换，虚拟语气表达的特殊感情，这些都是写作的基本技巧。语法不好，写作水平也不会高到哪里去，具体表现为通篇语病，只会用简单句型，不会写漂亮的长短句，偶尔憋出个长句还是错的。不会运用高级语法，比如独立主格，虚拟语气等，句式的多样性和表达的灵活性受到很大的影响。因此我们有必要强化一下语法。基本思路是先通读一两本语法书，建立起基本的语法框架，然后通过大量的阅读和听力练习不断巩固完善语法。目前市面上的语法书非常多，但内容其实都大同小异，挑选好一两本认真啃下去就是，推荐《赖世雄语法》或者剑桥的语法在用系列。

　　写作进阶：

　　在大量阅读，强化语法的基础上，相信你现在写作时已经能够做到少犯或不犯语法错误，写出来的英文还算凑合了，这个时候如果需要进一步提高文笔应该怎么做?可以采用精读经济学人以及使用英英词典和搭配词典的方法。以Academic Writing 为例，一篇漂亮的文章至少要做到以下几点：句式丰富多变，长短句灵活应用，用词准确出彩，论点丰富，论证有力，逻辑严谨。而经济学人就满足这种“漂亮”文章的标准，是非常好的阅读和模仿素材。好的文章是模仿出来的，要学会模仿阅读时遇到的优美的词汇用法、句型结构、巧妙的比喻、幽默的风格等等，慢慢化为自己的熟练表达。

　　比如很多人习作中出现的一个问题是句式单一，用词平庸。我们可以学习一下经济学人文章的写法，增加语言的张力。举个例子，下面的这一段节选自上周的经济学人文章 The enemy within:

　　EMPLOYEES are often said to be a company’s biggest resource. It is equally true that they are its biggest liability.Scarcely a week goes by without a company falling victim to employees-turned-enemies-or-embarrassments. On July 20th Ashley Madison, a website for married people looking to have an affair, announced that it had been hacked. Noel Biderman, the company’s chief executive, says that he thinks the attack was “an inside job”. On July 6th HSBC fired a group of employees when it emerged that they had filmed themselves engaged inan “ISIS-style mock beheading” of an Asian colleague dressed in an orange jumpsuit.

　　The most familiar type of enemy within is the fraudster. The Economist Intelligence Unit, a sister organisation of The Economist, conducts a regular poll of senior executives on the subject of fraud committed by insiders. In 2013 the poll discovered that about 70% of companies had suffered from at least one instance of fraud, up from 61% in the previous survey. Fraud is often petty: a survey of British employees for YouGov in 2010 found that a quarter of staff eligible for expenses admitted to inflating claims. But fraud can also be more audacious and more harmful: think of former employees setting up rivals using stolen technology and purloined client lists.

　　从上面的文章中我们可以学到什么?

　　4个写作时可以用上的句式：

　　1....are often said to...it is equally true that...

　　2.Scarcely a week/month/year goes by without...

　　3....when it emerged that...

　　4.discovered that about 70% ...up from 61%...

　　10个词汇和短语：

　　1.liability

　　2.fall victim to

　　3.have an affair

　　4.behead

　　5.fraudster